He was and always will be a signing to strengthen the squad, not the first team. When/if Valencia or Nani drops off in form/get injured, he'll come into play again and be adequate.
Smashley Young
- Thread starter Red Defence
- Start date
At the beginning of the season everyone was over-rating him and now everyone is under-rating him.
He has a run of a few poor games, form interrupted by injury. Yesterday he looked like an early United career Nani. A lot of bad decisions, poor crosses, wrong passes and trying to go to far with the ball at his feet.
How many times yesterday did he cut inside, take someone on, get clear, only to do something else which ended him losing the ball?
How many times yesterday did he cut inside, take someone on, get clear, only to do something else which ended him losing the ball?
story of the caf. answer always somewhere in between
Clearly out of form. Injuries don't help. Lets give him a season before we pass judgement on him. There are players in the team who have unperformed for a lot longer and they are still given the benefit of the doubt. Same should be extended to Young as well...
Well said.
Seems he's been out for half our games, did he have such problems at Villa?
Meh, I've always considered him as being a good squad player, nothing more, nothing less.
But yes, after the Arsenal match people were very much over-rating him.
He was always a bit of a strange signing to me because in comparison to the likes of Mata and Nasri he is clearly inferior and he doesn't add as much value to what we had before hand.
Maybe we just brought him as an expensive squad player and I should change my expectation of him.
Maybe we just brought him as an expensive squad player and I should change my expectation of him.
This is true. Typical short-termism on the caf. Players aren't allowed a dip in form or a season to find their feet at a new club.
Youngs the fall guy this week is he?
His instant impact put a bit of unfair expectation on him. Just because he's a regular in this league we shouldn't have assumed that he would completely adjust to our club so soon. I agree we should treat him like any other signing and give him time. He's already shown us what he's capable of and with a bit of patience and an injury free run, he should reach that level again.
That'll teach our new boys to play well in the beginning of the season. It's far better to play like shite only to come roaring in midway through the season. That way people don't expect anything from you 
His performances have turned rather predictable of late. I didn't see much of him for Villa, minus highlights from motd so i really don't know what we should be expecting of him but his crossing i heard was meant to be one of his strong points, i've yet to see it.
When Young came on Nani moved to the right to accommodate Young on the left. He can't cross from that side with any effectiveness.
Anyway he hasnt impressed me too much so far. Hopefully when he comes back he'll get into some kind of form and shows what he can
He is simply off form. That is why he has become as predictable as time on a clock.
same stick was given out to nani when he first came, why shouldn't young be given time to shine for us as well.
The difference with Nani was that he was more of an unknown quantity, who was also younger when he was signed. When he wasn't performing, some people were hesitant to write him off, because nobody knew what he was truly capable of, meaning that simply selling him could be a big mistake.
We've seen Young play in the Premier League for Aston Villa now, and unlike with Nani, the majority of people knew how he played before he came. Now, they're simply using that to try and write him off.
Note, I'm not defending this, as I'm like you. I want Young to be given a proper chance to prove himself here. All I'm doing is explaining the thought process that would probably go through the minds of his critics, who would have been the same people to defend Nani.
Probably because it's his 6th season in the Premier League, he's 26 years old and he's been in England his entire career? To afford him the same time to settle in as a 19 year old lad in a new country would be absurd.
He's in poor form. No need to get all defensive about it.
Off form, happens with 90% of the players at some point of time during a season. His start at United was too good to last anyways, being his 1st season at the club, am not overtly concerned.
Let him blend in, we've got so many good options with Park/Nani/Valencia and even Giggsy if called upon...
He's not used to having so many good players around him yet.
He's not used to having so many good players around him yet.
I've not changed from what I thought when we signed him.
I like him because he works hard, and the way he started was encouraging, but he's noticably less good at football and less effective than our other attacking players, and he's also older than most of them.
I remain confused and underwhelmed until convinced otherwise.
Squad player, adequate? Rubbish. He cos near £20m and has been one of the top performers of his position in the Premier league. He started well but recently has been a bit poor at times, lets not forget the injuries and it being his first season. Still al long way to go as well.
Would you rather have had Downing and let Liverpool take their first choice? No, me neither. Give him some more time, think Nani, Ronaldo, Anderson and co have had more than 6 months to settle!!!!!!!!!
Ditto. Had a short spell where he made me think I might have been wrong about him and that he might be able to take the step up to a top tier club but doesnt seem like it any more.
Chill dude, at least he gave off AN impression he was going to play well, not like Bebe' etc...
He's had injury, he's just moved to a new team while playing behind the CF nearly the whole season last season, he's moved to LW now so give him a bit of time...
Early signs are good, great goals against Arsenal... The great thing is he hardly loses the ball while his defense is really good...
He's also hampered with injury and after that he hasn't been playing consistent matches to be fully judged yet...
Give him a few seasons then if he doesn't improve just complain all you want but not after 4-5 months FFS
Very good point that's being ignored. Nani and Valencia are in form now and deserve to play; but apart from Park and Giggs as further options, we used to have Obertan and Bebe as well. Personally I feel a lot better knowing we have Young there instead and so should everyone else. Our wingers are top class.
I dont see why I should "chill". Its not like Im shouting abuse or writing him off for good. You seem more agitated than me. "FFS" etc.
I just said he hadnt made an impression to change my original opinion of him before we bought him. Im not writing him off or anything.
And the bolded part is just wrong. He is wasteful in posession.
I hope he improves and proves me wrong, I was happy when he showed some good signs at the start of this season. But from what Ive seen of him since for us added to what he put on show for Villa he is no more than a decent squad player with the capability of having good games (like Park, O'Shea etc have been for us) and unless he improves a lot he shouldnt be getting starts ahead of Nani, Welbeck or even Valencia.
He has the highest pass completion rate of any of our wingers or forwards, at 85% thats higher than Nani, Valencia, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Giggs.
His crosses are the only element of his game that can be considered wasteful, they've been really disappointing this season. Except for that he's extremely tidy in possession and, if anything, can be accused of playing it too safe, in contrast to Nani for example, who loses the ball more but by taking risks creates more opportunities.
There's no way you can consider him wasteful.
Does wasteful in possession mean he doesn't create enough assists or something ? I mean, I don't really know what you're talking about. Maybe he hasn't set or LW on fire in the last couple of matches that he's played but we definitely know what he's capable of and I'm pretty sure SAF is trying to utilize AY to get performances like the Le'Arse game consistently...
This thing about his crossing is intriguing. The Young-watchers on the caf assured us that he would be great for corners, free kicks and crossing. His crossing has been disappointing, not as good as Nani or Valencia. Giggs and Anderson take the corners. And Giggs, Nani and Rooney take the free kicks.
His defence is good and he works hard. Many times he has been back in the penalty area helping out Evra.
He doesn't run at defenders nearly as much as Valencia and Nani.
He has been unlucky with injuries recently, as he was rarely injured at Villa. Must be the curse of playing for United.
Until his first injury he was established as the first choice winger for England and playing very well. He can obviously get back to that level, and the hope is that he will improve further by playing for United instead of Villa.
His defence is good and he works hard. Many times he has been back in the penalty area helping out Evra.
He doesn't run at defenders nearly as much as Valencia and Nani.
He has been unlucky with injuries recently, as he was rarely injured at Villa. Must be the curse of playing for United.
Until his first injury he was established as the first choice winger for England and playing very well. He can obviously get back to that level, and the hope is that he will improve further by playing for United instead of Villa.
Does he have any off-field distractions or problems affecting him?
I'd rather we'd bought a proper left footed winger as a proper alternative down that flank in the summer. But Young did show enough at the start of the season to demonstrate that he could make that flank his own and push Valencia out of the XI.
He's come back from injury and seemingly has lost confidence. He doesn't want to take the ball on his left foot much and tends to come inside and dwell on the ball or he tries to go down the byline half-hearted and ends up running into trouble. He'll have his man beaten but won't put a cross in. He needs to regain confidence in his instincts.
Though people are also realising what a fecking good player Valencia is and that it's going to be hard to displace him from the side. Nani is on a different level to both players.
He's come back from injury and seemingly has lost confidence. He doesn't want to take the ball on his left foot much and tends to come inside and dwell on the ball or he tries to go down the byline half-hearted and ends up running into trouble. He'll have his man beaten but won't put a cross in. He needs to regain confidence in his instincts.
Though people are also realising what a fecking good player Valencia is and that it's going to be hard to displace him from the side. Nani is on a different level to both players.
I really cant believe those stats are correct. The last few games he has certainly been extremely wasteful. He lost the ball almost every time he had the ball against Fulham. Maybe he plays more backwards passes than the rest or something. He certainly isnt our most succesful winger in attempted offensive moves (crosses, dribbles, shots)
He's dispossessed quite a lot, joint 4th with Giggs and Anderson behind Rooney, Nani and Welbeck. And apparently he doesn't 'complete' many dribbles - 7 all season compared to Nani's 31. And he takes the third highest shots per game. So yes, he does give the ball away quite a lot. He's a good passer though. More creative than Valencia and more reliable than Nani. He does annoy me a little bit though. He's not as consistent or reliable as Valencia nor as capable of magic as Nani, and he's pretty much got the worst features of both.
I've heard he has played a couple of games with his toe injury. Maybe that was a problem.
I mean Torres would be never in the position right now if he hadn't played in the World Cup 2010, he wasn't 100% fit and he has felt the aftereffects after the World Cup for a long long time.
My ranking thus far is that he is is behind Nani, on a par with Valencia (though a different style), and ahead of anyone else who might play as a winger. As we saw against Fulham, for example, there is plenty of room for all 3. Compared with 20m for Downing, he is a good buy.
Im glad to read that. Would have been a bit unnerving if my gut feeling was that far off regarding him.
Replacement for Park imo.